Monday, March 18, 2013

About two months ago fellow collector Al Otis decided on a
different path in his life which involved selling his bottle collection.It consisted of over 600 different RI
bottles, including many unlisted and one of a kind examples.It was one of the top 5 collections of RI
bottles, and I was definitely interested.Being a poor college graduate, I regretfully could not purchase the
collection even though the price was very fair.In a bittersweet yet expected turn, a friend of his bought them to sell
individually.I was over in a heartbeat
to set some aside.It was pretty
overwhelming, but I tried to get the rare and unlisted bottles.While 68 bottles sounds like an
inconsequential fraction of the 600 bottles, I was able to acquire what I
believed to be the most important bottles I could afford.Here are some of the finds:

An unlisted Caswell
Mack & Co. Chemists New York & Newport was hard to pass up.There are no listed rectangular versions of this bottle, and this one is fairly crude.Dating from ca. 1863-1880, these Caswell Macks are some of the oldest
bottles from the Caswell/Hazard/Mack/Massey empire.

Another bottle known for its many varieties, a Barbour’s Westerly & Watch Hill R.I.
was a nice find.This small size had a
different style font and underscore than listed versions.

I was very excited to discover that an already rare pharmacy
bottle was an even rarer unlisted version!It was a Potter’s Pharmacy
(embossed owl on mortar) 246 Cranston St. Providence,
RI.The listed example has an
address of 206 and a different looking owl.The 206 address was an older location than the 246.

One of my top 3 bottles from the purchase was this brand new
cosmetic bottle.A Zenobia Toilet Specialties, Bronson Chemical Co. Providence, RI.This is the only cosmetic bottle of its kind
from RI, and the color and shape make it exceptional.

While in poor condition, it was exciting to see an unlisted
version of a Downing Brothers Druggists
Newport, RI.All the listed versions
are embossed B.F. Downing Jr., even though his brother worked with him for most
of the duration of the company.

Friday, March 8, 2013

I’d like to dedicate this entry to the unlisted RI bottles
that I missed, got outbid on, or saw in a friend's collection.

A fairly recent member to join the club, Steve Plante has
quickly become a prominent collector of Rhode Island ACL soda bottles.His favorite way of “digging” for bottles is
to go out kayaking and pull them out of rivers and ponds.I had overlooked this particular method until
about five years ago when I discovered how easy it was to find bottles in
the water, especially on hot days.One of
his recent finds was a completely unlisted QuaKo Acme Bottling Co. Providence, RI.While an embossed Acme Bottling Co. bottle exists, this brand is pretty
significant.Quako originated in Philadelphia, so why a small bottling company from Rhode
Island started to bottle it is fascinating.

A while ago I saw a nice looking unlisted Wright & Hay Pharmacists Newport, RI
medicine on ebay.The same seller had a
pharmacy bottle from Woonsocket,
RI listed as well.This bottle had a decent lip chip and would
normally sell for $5 on a good day.However, two feuding Woonsocket
collectors had “unfinished business”, and drove the price to an insane
$406.One of the bidders also went after
the Newport
bottle, so I had to back out.Oh well!

Another beer bottle that really should be listed is the Eagle Brewing Co. (embossed eagle and shield) Providence, RI.This is hands down the finest looking crown
top beer bottle from RI.I have an acid
etched blob from this company, and there is an embossed example listed, but
there is no mention of an eagle!

A few years back a good friend of mine bought a box of
freshly dug bottles from northern RI.For $10 it was a stellar buy, because he got a Sullivan Bros. Providence
Hutchinson worth about $1,500.Another
bottle in the box was (believe it or not) even rarer than the Sullivan!It was a J.S.
Hazard & Co. Westerley (spelling error), RI gravitating stopper soda.While not as sought after as RI hutchinsons,
gravitating stopper (patented in 1867) sodas are tough to find, and there was
only one known from RI.Now there are
two!Note- Other J.S. Hazard squat sodas
are fairly easy to come by.

A fairly unusual source of finding unlisted RI bottles is
the Red Book of Fruit Jars.This
excellent reference book is the fruit jar bible.The majority of jars don’t have a location on
them, but a base embossed F.H. Perry &
Co. Prov. RI fruit jar caught my eye.The lid has an 1882 patent date on it.Because it is base embossed, it doesn’t have tremendous value, but it is
certainly something I am looking out for!

There is no picture of this jar yet!

One of my favorite local bottles is owned by my friend
David.A few years ago another friend of
mine found a The Gladstone Spring Water
Co. Narragansett Pier, RI demijohn.This massive bottle is the only RI mineral water demijohn in this
size.I can only hope there is another
one out there sitting in someone’s basement!

This week I’ll finish off my finds from the last bottle club
meeting.A Mason B. Wood Druggist Watchemoket, RI was my next find.Watchemoket was a small town that later
became part of East Providence.The shape is pretty appealing; it is round with a flat front. This style was patented by the Whitall Tatum Co. This cute druggist bottle was listed, but not in
this size (3-1/2”).

Another highlight of the collection selloff was an A.J. Hopkins & Son Improved Magic
Healing Powder Providence, RI.As far as I know, it’s
been close to two decades since one of these has surfaced.Since the picture on the LRBC website is
black and white, there is a small possibility that the bottle was aqua like
mine, even though it looks and is listed as clear.

This entry is a particularly rewarding one.The origins of this bottle go back 10
years.I bought my Denham’s Homeopathic Pharmacy bottle as a kid with a bunch of other
bottles.When I got older I tried to
research it online.I didn’t get a
single hit.I figured it was probably
out of state and put it back in my display.Well last week I tried my new and improved search.I found a Henry J. Denham.To my great surprise I found an article
stating that he opened a homeopathic pharmacy in Providence in 1875!A few more articles further backed up this theory. That makes this bottle quite the rare find.

One of the dark horse categories in RI bottle collecting is
seltzer bottles.A few are scattered
throughout the online listing, but there is probably close to 100 different
companies out there.I usually don’t bid
on them because they can sell fairly high and the shipping is absurd, but when
a few came up for sale within driving distance, I chanced it.My favorite out of the four I won was a nice
early E.P. Anthony Mineral Waters
Providence, RI.As one of the most
successful pharmacists in Providence,
he must have had a soda fountain in his pharmacy which often featured seltzer
bottles.This early (circa 1910s)
example is significant because it links a pharmacist to the beverage industry.

My newest ebay find was a nice Hazard Hazard & Co. Chemists NY & Newport medicine
bottle.An unlisted square style, I have
one size already, and now I can add this 5” size to make a pair! The Hazard Hazard name was the second newest incarnation of this company, lasting from about 1887-1893.

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About Me

Always looking to buy Rhode Island bottles!
If you have a question about a RI bottle or would like to submit information for a bottle not listed on the LRBC website, please email me at RIbottleguy@gmail.com. If you are able please attach a picture of the bottle in question. Thanks!